5 Helpful Tips for Growing Your Talent Pool to Make the Perfect Hire

May 1st, 2017 Written by: Molly Masterson

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Whether you’re replacing a departing employee or filling a new role, if you’re drawing from a small talent pool, your chances of finding the perfect candidate to bring energy into your organization drops considerably.

If you’re struggling to find qualified candidates to fill your job vacancy, you’re not alone. In fact, 48% of companies responded that they struggle to find qualified talent to fill their vacancies, according to a recent Careerbuilder survey.

Small talent pools are the result of a variety of factors. Some hurdles such as budget and market are out of your control, but many are quick fixes.

Masterson Staffing Solutions has been helping connect companies with great talent for nearly 50 years. Here, we share five simple steps you can take to bring in more applications, and increase your chances of finding the perfect candidate.

1. Write a detailed, but not limiting job description.

The job description you release into the wild is likely the first point of contact you’ll have with potential candidates. You want to inform them, intrigue them, and entice them to submit.

Writing a job description requires a bit of a balancing act, as you want to be detailed without turning off job candidates because the position sounds too precise.

Begin by stating the skill and experience requirements, as well as the responsibilities and tasks a candidate will absolutely need to have. Then outline all the preferred skills and qualities you’re looking for, but aren’t necessarily critical to the role to help you attract the right applicants.

Also, make sure to sprinkle in some of the benefits of joining your team. If your job posting is strictly business, it may run potential applicants the wrong way. Sell the applicant on your company and the position, not just one or the other.

2. Determine how you’ll screen candidates.

Which characteristics are most important for you? Experience, skills, education, references, attitude? You want to have a clear hierarchy established before you post your job opening so you can attract the most relevant candidates.

This will also help you to quickly review an application, and determine if you want to look further into a candidate or eliminate them.

3. Tap your network.

Word of mouth is a powerful tool. The internet and social media networks make it easy for you to get in touch with contacts to see if they have any good candidates to send your way, or if they can spread the word about your job opening.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to your network of peers. With so many online job boards, it’s unrealistic to expect your posting to hit every job seeker. But if your network is helping you amplify, you increase the odds—and you can pay it forward the next time they’re in need.

In addition, stay connected with past work contacts such as freelancers and contractors, as they’re familiar with your company and culture. Send them a message alerting them that you’re hiring and encourage them to apply.

4. Boost your brand and reputation.

Competition for attracting and landing the best talent is increasing for companies, with job seekers vetting potential employers much more closely. This is especially true among millennials who greatly value culture, feedback and flexibility.

The best way to boost your employment brand is to monitor your Glassdoor page. Glassdoor is essentially Yelp for businesses, where current and past employees can review working for your organization. Encourage your employees to write a review, and take the feedback to heart. It’ll allow you to identify areas of opportunity and make positive changes that will keep and attract top talent.

5. Consider partnering with a professional staffing agency.

Hiring is a multi-layered, time-consuming process for companies to take on in addition to their already busy schedules. If you need to make a hire, but find yourself overwhelmed at the prospect of sifting through resumes and screening candidates, consider partnering with a professional staffing agency.

An experienced professional staffing agency has the resources, expertise and relationships to connect your company with quality talent. For example, Masterson Staffing helps place more than 20,000 job seekers every year.

Grow Your Talent Pool

By writing a detailed job description, determining how you’ll screen candidates, tapping into your network, boosting your brand and reputation, and possibly partnering with a staffing agency, you could be well on your way to growing your talent pool and finding the perfect candidates.

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